Apparatus and processes have been devised for welding steel components for structural automotive components. Parts, such as side rails, are presently created by welding together two steel C-channels, which are formed from a steel coil or blank. Welding operations are commonly performed at specific tables or plate-like surfaces where steel components are manually or automatically welded.
In large welding operations, such as those in the automotive industry, high flexibility operations are of great concern. Flexibility is pursued by creating tools and operations that may be utilized for welding several different components and by minimizing the amount of adjustments needed to be done to the tool before changing from one component type to another.
FANUC robots are known for arc welding operations. The FANUC ARC Mate Series model robots are versatile for automated welding processes.
Previous efforts have been tried to optimize the amount of welding material used within a welding operation and to increase the speed at which the welding operation is performed, specifically regarding vertical anchoring tools. Vertical anchoring tools are devices designed to hold two components together at a vertical angle and which allow a welding robot to perform a welding operation from the top to the bottom of the joining of such components. Vertical angles allow faster welding operations and therefore, decrease the amount of welding material used without decreasing the quality of the joining One drawback of vertical welding is that the components must be held in place by securing anchors whereby the welding robot must pass over the securing anchors holding the components in place leaving gaps that must be welded later. These vertical anchoring tools are often avoided by large welding operations due to their high cost and high specialty configuration.
A wide range of machinery and tool-machinery in the technical field are used for manufacturing numerous components of the metalworking industry. This diversity of elements includes robotic arms, which ease the automation of the manufacturing and assembly lines through many features. Moreover, some of these robotic arms are adapted or arranged for coupling and controlling several sets of tools specialized for performing these features. Furthermore, currently, during the automated welding process, it is necessary to hold or fix each piece when the electrode appropriately performs the welding process. For such end, a holding machine is adapted for holding the pieces, with pressure-exerting (snapping) elements that are defined for such component or work piece, so that the machine must be rearranged for each new work piece or component. The above involves actions and resources for the rearrangement, and also limits the welding process to necessarily making batches of the same piece.
In this regard, there is a need for a set of tools that allows for the pressure-exerting features during the welding process of several components and pieces. Likewise, there is a need for the set of tools to comprise pressure-exerting elements that may be adapted to the shape and profile of each work piece. Furthermore, the set of tools should be adaptable both mechanically and electronically to a robotic arm.
The present disclosure presents an alternative method and its corresponding tools for welding automotive components, specifically C-channels, wherein such method presents substantial benefits in welding speed and welding material with a higher degree of operational flexibility. Additionally, the method presents benefits regarding the welded component weight.